“We suspended the TPO and an ATPO late on Saturday night,” RMC Municipal Commissioner Devang Desai told The Indian Express on Monday.

With this, the number of officers suspended by the RMC following the fire accident has increased to five. A day after the devastating fire which ripped through the three-storey tall tin shed, which was 50 meters wide and 60 meters long, the civic body suspended Gautam Joshi, incumbent ATPO for ward no. 10, 11, 12 of the RMC, for alleged dereliction of duty.

On the same day, the commissioner suspended Jaydip Chaudhary, an assistant engineer in the RMC’s town planning department, and Rohit Vigora, the fire station officer in charge of the RMC’s Kalavad Road fire station.

Sagathiya and Makwana were arrested by the Rajkot crime branch late on Thursday following 48-hour questioning regarding the fire at the TRP gaming zone on the Nana Mava Road. One of the co-owners of the facility was among the casualties and nine people were injured in the fire.

While seeking remand of the TPO and the ATPO, the crime branch told a local court on Friday that the officers were aware of the illegal construction of a tin shed to house the indoor gaming facilities at the gaming zone but did not act against it.

The municipal commissioner suspended the two officers under Provision 7(2)(b) of Gujarat Civil Services (Discipline and Appeal) Rules, 1971, for having spent more than 48 hours in police custody as well as under Section 56(2)(f) ) of the Gujarat Provincial Municipal Corporation Act, 1949 for “irresponsibility, carelessness, laxity, dereliction and acts harming reputation of Municipal Corporation”.

The suspension orders underlined that the two officers initiated action against the TRP gaming zone way back on April 11, 2023, but did not take the proceedings to its logical conclusion and instead offered the owners a leeway to get the tin shed regularized under the Gujarat Regularisation. of Unauthorized Development Act (GRUDA), 2022, popularly called Impact Fee Act. Under GRUDA, 2022, the state government afforded a sort of amnesty and provided for the regularization of certain types of unauthorized constructions against payment of an impact fee.

The order suspending Sagathiya, 55, says that he had issued an order on June 8, 2023, ordering the owners of the TRP gaming zone to remove the structure of their gaming facility within seven days, failing which RMC would do the same at the owners. ‘ risk and cost.

“Despite having issued such an order, it clearly emerges that Sagathiya did not take further action for 11 months and instead afforded owners/occupants time to file an application under provisions of Impact (Fee Act). This proves a big, serious irresponsibility towards, dereliction of, laxity towards and carelessness of duty,” the municipal commissioner recorded in his order.

In the order suspending Makwana, the commissioner stated that as then ATPO, Makwanana issued a notice to the TRP Game Zone owners on April 11, 2023, for “having started construction without prior approval.” Then, on June 8, 2023, the ATPO ordered the owners to remove the structure within seven days, failing which RMC would raze it.

However, Makwana did not follow through with the order for 11 months. The suspension order notes and adds that he allowed the owners the leeway to file an application under the Impact Fee Act on May 4 this year.

The Rajkot crime branch earlier arrested Vigora and Joshi. All four officers are currently on police remand. The crime branch also arrested four owners and a manager of the TRP gaming zone, and they are also currently on police remand.